Thor Annual #8
Thunder Over Troy!
Long ago, Thor was attempting to traverse across the land of Jotunheim with his step-brother Loki when they were attacked by an army of giants. Thor quickly ends the battle as he remembers this spot as the place where a portal between Asgard and Olympus exists. Recalling that this encounter led to a battle with Hercules, Thor hopes to leave before Loki finds the portal and uses it for some evil deed.[1]
Unfortunately, when the battle if over Loki spots a strange fissure that opened during the battle and wanders inside against Thor’s wishes. Following after the trickster, Thor discovers that Loki has vanished in the cave. Coming to a fork in the tunnel, Thor goes down one end and grows dizzy as he breathes in the strange gasses within. When he emerges out the other side he finds himself in a strange forest he has never seen before and is suddenly struck with amnesia.
Here he comes to the aid of a mortal being threatened by a wild bore. He slays the beast and is mistaken for Zeus. As it turns out the man he saved is a man named Aeneas. As Thor helps Anaes with his kill, he learns that the man comes from the kingdom of Troy and that he is son of the goddess Aphrodite and his father is a mortal named King Anchises of Dardanus. Thor finds all of these names familiar but does not remember why. He also learns of the on-going siege-war between Anaes’ people and the Argives that has lasted nine years. As Anaes tells it, the prince of Argives sought to win the hand of Helen, daughter of Tyndareus. Fearing civil war, Tyndareus tried to prevent this by allowing Helen to choose a husband of her choice. She chose Menelaus the king of Sparta.
One day they were visited by a man named Paris, who unknown to them Anaes’ mother promised Helen to. When Menelaus was called away on business, Aphrodite made it so Helen fell in love with Paris, who took her and her dowry back with him to Troy. When Menelaus learned of this he gathered those who were loyal to the Argives including Odysseus of Ithaca, Achilles, Agamemnon the king’s brother, and Diomedes of Argos. The conflict began in earnest and the battle has carried on for years. Anaes explains that none know when the war will end, although he mentions a woman named Cassandra — apparently driven mad by the god Apollo — who claims that Troy will go down in flames, but nobody believes her. Troy, however, remains safe thanks to the leadership of the warrior Hector, one of King Piram’s many sons. He hopes the war will end soon as there are rumors that Achilles has been quarreling with Agamemnon of late and retired his army from the battle.
By this time, Aneas and Thor have arrived outside the kingdom of Troy and enter through a secret passage. There they learn that Paris has agreed to battle Menelaus in single combat to decide the fate of Helen and the war. Anaes and Thor then join the gathering crowd to watch the battle. In the ensuing combat, Menelaus defeats Paris in combat and begins dragging his foe off the battle field. Desperate, Paris calls for Aphrodite to come to his aid. Thor’s godly affinity allows him to see the invisible Aphrodite as she arrives on the field of battle. She then frees Paris and carries him away. When Thor tells Anaes what he sees, the young man is impressed by his new friend. Still, the Argives consider themselves the victor and outside the castle walls Agamemnon demands that King Piram surrender Helen to them. While negotiations are underway, Cassandra comes to tell Helen that Paris awaits for her in his chambers.
Witnessing Aphrodite depart again, Thor suddenly remembers who he is. When he tells Anaes that he is the Asgardian god of thunder, his new friend knows not what he speaks of. Thor realizes that he must have gone back in time and decides to follow after Aphrodite. While back on the ground, Menelaus and Agamemnon wonder if the people of Troy will be true to their word.
Meanwhile, in Olympus, Zeus hopes that the defeat of Troy will satisfy his wife, Hera. However, Hera will not be satisfied until Troy has been destroyed for the insult done by Paris. Zeus points out that the only crime Paris is guilty of is saying that Aphrodite was farer than her. That’s when Aphrodite arrives and reveals that she saved the life of Paris. This angers Zeus who fires a bolt of lightning. This is followed by the arrival of Thor, who is instantly recognized by Zeus who calls the Asgardian an intruder. Thor apologizes for the intrusion and explains that his coming was only out of curiosity. While Zeus is distracted, Athena decides to use this opportunity to ensure Troy’s destruction. Becoming invisible, the goddess of war goes to Pandarus of Lycia and convinces him to murder Menelaus, as it will win him favor from Paris when he recovers from his injuries.
By this time, Thor has confirmed his suspicions that he had gone back in time. It’s then that he spies Athena at work and summons a mighty storm to prevent Pandarus from firing an arrow to slay Menelaus. This backfires spectacularly as it causes both armies to accuse the other of trechary and the battle begins anew. Joining the battle is Anaes, who is knocked down in battle and is at risk of being slain. Seeing her son in danger, Aphrodite attempts to petition Ares the god of war to intervene but he refuses. Luckily, Thor returns to Earth and saves his newfound friend. Thor pulls his friend off the battlefield and hands him over to some healers. Anaes wishes to continue fighting, but Thor decides to battle in his place.
By this time, Athena has returned to Olympus and petitions Zeus to allow her continued involvement. Zeus denies the request, saying the battle is not for mortals to dirty their hands. That’s when he sees that Thor is fighting for the people of Troy and is furious. Joining the fight is Ares who locks swords with the mortal Diomedes. Thankfully for the Argives warriors, Athena adds power to his sword that he can harm the god of war with the weapon. Growing tired of the conflict, Thor then summons hurricane force winds to drive the invaders at bay. At this point, Zeus has had enough and directly intervenes. When Thor refuses to cease involvement in the conflict, Zeus teleports them both onto a nearby mountain top where they battle it out against each other. While the two gods battle for supremacy, the war between Troy and the Agrives rages on. Hector slays Patroclus, Achelles falls when Paris fires an arrow at his heel, and when Philocetes tries to fell Paris he too dies under the Troyan’s arrows.
Meanwhile, the battle between Thor and Zeus rages on. Although Zeus is more powerful, Thor refuses to surrender out of fear that the Olympians might someday threaten his native home of Asgard. This causes Zeus to cease his attacks and he explains that he and Odin have met long ago and made a pact of non-interference and that Olympus has no plan to threaten Asgard in the future.[2] Zeus also pledges to Thor that he will not involve himself with the matters of Troy and the Argives. With that, the two shake hands and Thor is on his way. When he returns to bid farewell to Anaes, many months have passed on Earth and the battle is long over. He departs, telling Anaes that he hopes they will meet again someday.
Heading back to the cave he arrived from, Thor runs into his brother Loki who had his own bout of amnesia. Thor believes that his step-brother might have stayed out of mischief, however he learns to his horror that this is not the case. During his time in this era, Loki happened to meet with Odysseus and have him the idea of presenting a massive wooden horse to Troy to secret their soldiers inside the city and destroy. Thus, despite all of Thor’s efforts to prevent further bloodshed, Troy goes down in flames as it was long fortold.
Recurring Characters
Thor, Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Athena, Bacchus, Hera, Hercules, Hermes, Agammemnon, Menelaus, Odysseus, Achilles, Patroclus, Diomedes, Philocetes, Paris, Cassandra, Hector, King Priam, Helen, Aeneas, Pandarus
Continuity Notes
Thor ventured to Olympus and fought Hercules in Journey into Mystery Annual #1.
The pact between Odin and Zeus came after their first meeting in Thor Annual #5 and explored in more detail in Thor #300.
